


Daily shukita

by NoonoosKitchen



Series: Shukitashu main course [4]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Drabble Collection, M/M, Rating May Change, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:07:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 31
Words: 10,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoonoosKitchen/pseuds/NoonoosKitchen
Summary: Collection of drabbles featuring Yusuke and Akira.Updates daily.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Kitagawa Yusuke, Kitagawa Yusuke/Kurusu Akira, Kitagawa Yusuke/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: Shukitashu main course [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877773
Comments: 79
Kudos: 118





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to “Daily shukita”! I’ll put some more info about the project in the end notes, so please go read it when you finish.

“So these three right here are alright to eat, any other is an instant no, ok?” Akira asks, finger pointing at a group of photos of mushrooms.

“Yes, I understand. I have an excellent visual memory, so this will be an easy task,” Yusuke replies with a serene face, sounding confident.

“Ok… take the book with you, just in case. And check it out before you go picking one.”

“I shall do just that,” the artist nods, putting the book inside his bag.

“Mmh…” Akira keeps looking at him, still not at ease. “But the mushrooms are a last resort, yes? If you are hungry and have nothing to eat, just come to Leblanc and I’ll help you.”

“That is very kind of you, Akira, but… I don’t always have enough money to pay the train fair,” Yusuke refutes, eyebrows furrowing, and expression going somber.

“Oh… w-well then, just call me and I’ll go, promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

Yusuke smiles at him, head slightly tilted, the strand of hair pulled behind his ear coming to fall in front his half-lidded eyes. Akira slightly furrows his eyebrows, feeling his cheeks heating up a bit at the scene. He should not fall for that cute act, specially now that he’s trying to sound authoritarian, but Yusuke’s always been one of his weaknesses.

“Let’s prepare something for dinner,” he says standing up, trying to regain some control. “What do you want?”

“I find myself craving some fish cuisine, actually. Would it be ok if we eat that?”

“Ok, let me see what we got in the fridge…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My goal for this fic is to post short stories about the two softest boys every day.
> 
> I find that having a routine helps me a lot when dealing with the current situation, so I would like to try to create a small new routine for both you and me to follow.
> 
> The idea is to post them daily until the end of the month (or for as long as I can). They are only little pieces of ideas written on a whim, so don’t expect anything super elaborated or creative.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, and see you tomorrow <3
> 
> [ twitter ](http://twitter.com/nature_check)


	2. Chapter 2

Legs crossed, Yusuke sits on one of the stools in front of the counter, looking at his steaming cup of coffee intently. With care, he reaches out his hand and grabs the handle, raising the cup to his lips and taking a small sip.

The first thing he notices is the burning hot, the lava-like liquid quickly invading his entire mouth and making it go numb for a few seconds. Once the initial burn has subsided, the bitter taste starts to take his place, registering his taste buds useless to taste anything else but the black coffee. He presses his tongue against his palate to try and find a deeper layer to the taste, and takes another sip.

He drinks, and drinks, and drinks again, but still cannot find that special drop of sweetness of the coffee he had grown to adore during the past year.

From behind the counter, Sojiro looks at him, being deep in thought, and decides to carefully raise his voice. “You miss him, yeah?”

The unprompted words make Yusuke snap his head up, eyeing the other man in mild surprise.

“I know kid, we all miss him. Sorry I can’t help you deal with it with my coffee,” he adds with a lopsided smile.

“Please, that is not what I implied with my silence,” Yusuke quickly interjects. “I could never act so rudely, specially since you’ve only showed my kindness. I’m just…” he stops, trying to find the right words, “Coming to terms with my current feelings.”

“Take it easy,” Sojiro says, taking his empty cup and going to replenish it. “You have a few days off school in a couple of months, I bet he’ll be at my doorstep as soon as he’s let out of class,” he adds with a scoff.

Yusuke can’t help but smile at the thought. “Yes, let’s hope so.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Let’s see, this one here.”

Yusuke presents a small piece of paper, coloured with a vibrant green. 

“Harlequin?”

“Excellent, next one.”

This time, it’s of a pale pink.

“... Pale dogwood.”

“Well done. Next.”

The new piece of paper is of a deep purple. Or maybe…?

Akira clicks his tongue in a muted 'tsk'. He always has trouble telling blue and purple apart. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he admits defeat.

“... I don’t know.”

“Mmh,” Yusuke lets out with a small smile, going to do a tick on the corner of his sketchbook, where several other marks of the same type are.

“Come on… that’s not fair,” Akira murmurs with a grimace, looking at the considerable amount of little lines.

“It is very fair. Those are the rules of the game after all.”

“Can I exchange half of those for free meals?”

“Mmh… it's a tempting offer, but-”

“For kisses then?”

Yusuke looks up from the page, finding Akira looking back at him with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“Well, that does sound like a fair trade. We’ll discuss it-”

Akira doesn’t let him finish, leaning forward to join their lips in swift but gentle kiss.

“This is for my last mistake,” he says with a cocky smile, going to sit closer to Yusuke.

Yusuke can’t help but chuckle, which earns him another small peck. His cheeks get dusted with red. “You are quite cunning Joker, but don’t think you’ll be able to get away with it all the time. I have plenty of ideas for the modeling sessions you owe me.”

“I know…” he says with a small sigh, head falling to rest on Yusuke’s shoulder.

“All right,” the artist smiles, taking a new piece of coloured paper. “Next one.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Absolutely not,” Yusuke says with a serious tone and a shake of his head, delicately pushing the coat away from him and into Akira’s chest.

Akira repressed a small sigh and eyes the rag of clothes for the fifth time, in hopes to see something new appear out of nowhere that would finally pick Yusuke’s interest.

“I think that’s the only one left on this store-” he begins to mutter, before the artist interrupts him.

“There’s that raincoat that we saw earli-”

“Absolutely not,” he replies mimicking his response, finally letting his trapped sigh go. “Let’s search on another one, yes?”

“Fine by me,” Yusuke says with a nod, already walking to the entrance of the store. 

Akira follows after him, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn’t think it would take them so long to decide on a new coat for his boyfriend, but he should have known things would turn out like this; Yusuke was very particular with his tastes, after all.

Back into the halls of the shopping mall, Akira looks to his right to see Yusuke about to turn a corner. He heads to that direction too, when from the corner of his eye he sees a deep, teal coloured long coat displayed on a mannequin.

“Stop,” he says in a calm voice, arm reaching out to grab the hem of Yusuke’s jacket and preventing him from going any further.

“Mmh? What is it?” he says, turning his head to look at the same direction as him. “Oh…. Oh!”

Akira gets excited after seeing that reaction. Is this finally going to be the one?

Yusuke darts inside the store and he follows suit. It only takes a short conversation with one of the clerks for the coat to be presented to Yusuke in the appropriate size.

Instead of putting it on though, Yusuke just looks at it more closely, feeling the fabric.

“Yes, I want this one. The colour is simply beautiful!”

Akira chuckles at the response. Of course that would be what had his interest the most. “I’m glad, but you should still try it, see if it fits you well.”

Yusuke nods and takes it off the hanger to then put it on, buttoning it up, and looks at himself on one of the mirrors.

“Ah… yes… this colour! Definitely an appropriate choice. What do you think, Akira?”

“Mmhh, looks pretty good,” the other boy replies, his right hand twirling a strand of hair that falls in front of his face.

He hopes the gesture is enough to shield his heating cheeks. Yusuke looks way too good with that coat, and his reactions are way too cute for Akira’s heart to properly handle.

“It is decided then. Oh, I’ve also seen that they have a set of light brown coats on sale, since they’re from last year’s collection. I’ve seen that couples usually get matching outfits to display their love and appreciation in public. Say Akira, should we try as well?”

“H-huh?!” Akira’s hand falls to his side, his fully bloomed blush proudly showing on his red cheeks.

“Let us go see, we still have plenty of money from Mementos,” says the artist before reaching to grab his hand and pull him to the sales section.

“Y-yusuke, wait!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of yesterday’s drabble.

Coats successfully purchased, the two boys slowly walk to the exit of the shopping mall, both feeling really tired after walking around the shops the entire afternoon.

“Want to go back to Leblanc and eat something? Not curry this time, I promise,” Akira proposes, looking at Yusuke from the corner of his eye.

“I don’t mind curry though. By now you’ve already mastered the recipe and it taste deli-”

His speech is cut short, Yusuke walking with quick steps to one of the displays on a small store, eyes wide and excited.

A bit surprised, Akira walks next to him and looks at the window too. He quickly sees what it is that caught Yusuke’s attention; a chemise with swirling colours of all the rainbow, bright and loud and a bit offensive to the eyes.

“This combination…” Yusuke begins to mutter, and Akira quickly knows where this is going. He did deny him the multi-coloured raincoat earlier, so…

“We can go see it if you want, but I think that’s women’s clothes…”

The excitement decreasing a bit from his face, Yusuke peels his eyes off the chemise to look at him. “‘Women’s clothes’? It's just a piece of fabric, I don’t see why I couldn’t wear it. You say some ridiculous stuff from time to time, Akira.”

Akira’s taken aback by that response, mild shock showing on his expression. He turns to look at the shirt again, processing his boyfriend’s words.

He then smiles a bit and turns to him.

“You are right, that was dumb of me. Come on, let’s go try it.”

Nodding excited once more, Yusuke enters the store walking next to him. He accesses the dressing room just as excited, only to open it a few moments later with a really sour expression, the colourful chemise laying open on his shoulders, revealing his exposed chest.

“I can’t manage to button it up…. my shoulders are way too broad,” he explains, sad eyes fixed to the floor.

The corner of Akira’s mouth twists a bit, also saddening at the bad news, though a quick solution comes to his mind.

“What if you wear a plain shirt underneath, so you can just leave it open as is? Or maybe just buttoning up the lower buttons.”

Yusuke’s face brightens. His hands go up and grab the fine piece of clothing delicately.

“Yes! What a smart idea! As expected of you, leader!”

And with that happy note, Yusuke goes back into the dressing room to put his clothes back on.

Akira waits on the outside, sighing but with a smile on, hoping they won’t have to do any more clothes shopping for a long while.


	6. Chapter 6

Akira gently drums his fingers on the counter, his other hand propping his head up by his chin as he looks at Yusuke, busy cooking away in the kitchen. 

Yusuke had been excited for today for the entire week, saying how he really wanted to give Akira a dish that showed his passion and appreciation for him. He’s the first person that wants to see Yusuke happy, so he’s decided to put up with it, even if he’s been questioning the state of the food for the past 15 minutes. It doesn't smell that bad, but the few glances he’s caught of the food have made him nervous.

It only takes a bit longer for Yusuke to finally turn around, dish in hand, and place it right in front of Akira.

“I hope you enjoy it,” he says, face as proud as it can be. “Please give me your honest opinion on the taste.”

Akira replies with a curt nod, taking a small gulp.

Not taking into account the slightly charred parts, the excessive amount of soy sauce has tinted the dish into a deep brown, making the ingredients unrecognizable between each other. Still, even if it should smell of soy sauce, only the smell of ginger and a mix of spices come to him.

Determined, Akira picks up the chopsticks and grabs a piece of the overly soft veggies. He puts it in his mouth without a second though, and swallows it in one go. 

His eyes widen in surprise.

“It tastes good,” he mutters, more to himself than to the other.

“Mmh, a success,” the artist says, clearly pleased. “It’s a shame that the different arrangement of colours have been muted due to the soy sauce, but it was a necessary ingredient to tie all the food together.”

As he listens to him talk, Akira takes another bite. It really is good. He can hardly believe it. He keeps quiet as he eats the entire dish, Yusuke looking over him with a warm smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of hurt/comfort

Akira opens the door of Leblanc and instantly feels relieved. Between school and his part-time job, the day’s been way to long.

Only wanting to go lay on his bed, he briefly greets Sojiro and does a beeline to the stairs. Even if Morgana’s staying over at Futaba’s today, he’ll go straight to sleep.

“Oh, hey,” Sojiro manages to say before he disappears upstairs. “The art kid came to visit, he’s in your room.”

Those words only make Akira climb the stairs even faster. He mutters a low ‘thank you’ and finally gets to his room.

He quickly sees Yusuke, sitting on his bed, an opened magazine on his lap. His head is facing downwards, and the hair falling over his face completely covers his expression.

“Hey,” Akira greets, leaving his bag on the table next to the stairs.

Yusuke jumps at hearing him and his head snaps up, revealing long streaks of tears running down his pale cheeks. 

Seeing it, Akira gets immediately alarmed and he runs to his side, sitting next to him while Yusuke rubs his face and hides it on the inside of his elbow.

“W-what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“I-it’s nothing, please p-pay me no mind,” he replies with a cracking voice, sudden sobs interrupting him.

“It doesn’t look like nothing to me. Do you want to talk about-?”

Akira falls silent when he takes notice of the magazine on Yusuke’s lap. It’s open in the middle of an article featuring all of Madarame’s stolen pieces, trying to categorise the plagiarized work from his genuine one.

Akira presses his lips. He gingerly takes the magazine and closes it, placing it on the windowsill.

“I-i apologize, I k-know I shouldn’t l-look at things like that, b-but…"

“It’s ok,” Akira whispers, gently pushing down on Yusuke’s arm to make him lower it.

The artist does so, bearing his sorrowful face to him. Akira’s eyes start to burn at seeing him like that, his chest feeling heavy, and tears start to well up on his eyes as well, feeling on his own person the sadness and the frustration of the other boy.

“W-will I ever know… w-which one of t-these were m-my mother’s…? Or w-will they always be buried in M-madarame’s lies?” he manages to ask, his eyes shutting closed as he tightly grips the front of his shirt.

Akira stays silent, not knowing what to do, as the tears start rolling down his own cheeks. Unable to think of any words able to console the artist, he just scoops his arms underneath Yusuke’s and pulls him close, tightly embracing him and hoping that his warmth will relief him a bit.

The gesture props Yusuke to released another loud sob and he resumes his crying, burying his face on Akira’s shoulder and letting his tears soak his clothes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I the only one who cries when someone else is crying in front of me?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scramble setting, no spoilers

“Do you think this is enough?”

“No, I believe we still need a third more. Zenkichi’s legs are quite long.”

Repressing a chuckle, Akira keeps digging up sand and letting it mount up next to him, helping Yusuke to acquire enough to be able to cover the clueless, sleeping policeman resting a few meters away from them.

“I was thinking about recreating  _ ‘The Birth of Venus’ _ . The marine motives of the piece will be represented beautifully with the sand,” the artist explains, burying his hands on the ground.

“Sounds good to me, bet it’ll will suit him,” Akira replies, burying his own hand and sinking it underneath the wet sand until his fingers grace Yusuke’s, making him jump by the sudden touch.

Both boys chuckle for a bit, Yusuke then going to bump his shoulder with Akira’s as they bring up their joined hands and collect more sand.

A few more scoops after, they finish collecting and both turn to look at their sleeping victim, sharing a quiet laugh before they begin their work.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scramble setting, no spoilers

Akira excuses himself for a moment, letting his group of friends perusing the various stalls next to the temple, and walks to the store that sells the different good luck charms, omikuji and ema boards. 

While walking around Fushimi Inari shrine, he saw one of the amulets gleaming in the light, and it quickly got his attentions. He needs to have it. 

After queuing for a while, it’s his turn to buy. He asks for his desired charm and pays for it, exiting the store within a few moments.

Treasure in hand, he walks away from the crowd, going to a secluded corner to take the amulet out and inspect it. The figure of a golden fox, made as if out of origami, rest on the middle of his palm, accompanied with a small golden bell and a slip with the name of the temple.

He smiles to himself, observing the trinket tenderly, and safely keeps it inside his pocket. He knows the fox will protect him when he goes back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted a  [ picture ](https://twitter.com/nature_check/status/1259053880370794496) of the amulet, in case you're curious.


	10. Chapter 10

“So, how was the trip?” Futaba asks as she absentmindedly strokes Morgana’s back, who’s sleeping next to her.

“Exhausting, but oh well,” Akira replies, shrugging a bit. “It’s worth it though,” he adds in a small voice, letting his body sink further into Yusuke’s side, who is so concentrated on his idle sketching that doesn’t seem to mind at all. 

“Subtle, very subtle,” the girl replies with a roll of her eyes, to which Akira just chuckles. “Oh, by the way! A prepared a welcome back gift for you,” she explains, a smirk appearing on her face. “It took months to prepare, so I hope you appreciate it.”

One of Akira’s eyebrows quirks up, not knowing what to expect. Without giving any further explanation, Futaba leans over the table, her right hand extended, and boops Yusuke’s nose with her index finger. The gesture props the artist to stick his tongue out in a little blep, though he still doesn’t lift his eyes from the doodled page.

While Futaba chuckles manically, Akira takes a hand up to reposition his glasses, in an attempt to hide to faint blush appearing on his face.

“JAH, I GOT YOUR WEAK POINT! Total success!!” she happily shouts, still laughing, falling back into her seat. 

Akira coughs a bit to compose himself and eyes Yusuke from the corner of his eye. Futaba’s loud cackling has made him peel his attention off the sketchbook and look at her, confused. 

Wanting to see it again, he’s the one now to boop Yusuke’s nose, making him blep again. 

Oh, Akira will have fun with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He got jagariko in exchange for the training.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D&D character creation setting

Shielding their bodies from the outside chill, the two boys snuggle together underneath the heavy blankets, Yusuke nuzzling Akira’s neck lightly as the other has his phone out, scrolling past lists of feats.

“I think that with that backstory, you should definitely get this one,” he says, getting the bright screen closer to Yusuke’s face.

“Mmh…?” the artist mutters, already being half asleep. With difficulty, he reads the information a bit dazed, his eyes widening as he keeps reading. “This… this is absolutely perfect!!” he exclaims, taking the phone into his own hand to examine it with more intent. “It would work perfectly with my spell selection, and it would also tie up with the background of your character, yes? Ah, Futaba will not be able to complain this time, it all ties up perfectly!!”

Akira can’t help but laugh at seeing Yusuke so excited. He feels the urge to start peppering his smiling face with kisses, but he knows he’ll get mad if he bothers him while he’s mid-creating. Instead, he settles with joining their cheeks together and rubbing them slightly, which also lets him get a better look at the phone, where Yusuke’s already setting in all the finishing touches to his character. 

“I am almost done, so we can move on to finish yours,” Yusuke says in a quieter voice now, not wanting to upset the other since he’s so close.

“Ok,” Akira simply replies, going to hug him tighter and waiting for him to finish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whispering* I miss Eran and Pego...


	12. Chapter 12

“Can I open my eyes?”

“No, please wait a little longer.”

Akira takes in a small breath and crosses his legs the other way, hearing how Yusuke keeps placing things on the table in front of him. He already knows what the occasion is, but still can't begin to imagine what Yusuke’s surprise entails.

“Excellent, this is the last one. Please. wait only a bi-”

His words art cut off as Leblanc’s clock rings, signalling it’s midnight.

“Open them.”

Akira does as told, to find in front of him an array of dishes filled with different type of food, a strawberry shortcake for two, and a small wrapped box resting next to it.

“Happy birthday, I hope it’s all to your linking,” Yusuke says as he takes a seat on the booth next to him, lightly pressing their shoulders together. 

“Where did you get all this from?” is the first question that comes to Akira's mind.

“Haru and Boss helped me gather the ingredients, but I assure you everything is home cooked, even the cake. I can only hope I did good enough,” he replies, a proud smile on his lips.

Akira smiles back at him and leans over to press a soft kiss to the side of his temple.

His phone has begun vibrating, probably with more birthday wishes from his other friends, but he will tend to them tomorrow. He has other things to take care of for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We always talk about Yusuke’s birthday, but what about Akira’s?


	13. Chapter 13

Yusuke sighs, his eyes closing and his head falling back on Akira’s shoulder. His boyfriend has been busying himself for the last 15 minutes passing his fingers through Yusuke’s hair, brushing it slowly and with care, while he scatters stray small kisses all over his scalp, cheeks and jaw. The skin not being kisses, Akira gently caresses with his fingertips when he reaches the end of Yusuke’s locks of hair, to then travel up and start the process all over again.

Yusuke couldn’t be more content with the gentle touches. Every movement chases a bit of his tiredness away, letting his always racing mind to finally come to rest and focus on the moment, the feather-like massage relaxing his body as the warmth sipping through Akira’s embrace makes him feel safe.

He snuggles more comfortably against Akira’s chest, letting his back fully rest on it, and one of his hands goes up to rest on the thief’s knee, starting to make slow circles around it. Being one to always enjoy Akira’s calm demeanour, he loves his silent show of affection, specially when it offers such a respite from his hectic and noisy day to day life.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aged-up characters

Yusuke’s habit to paint late into the night with poor lighting has taken a toll on his eyes with the years. Today, he just got back from getting his glasses, and he’s been pushing them up the bridge of his nose all afternoon, not being able to get used to the feeling.

“Just.. how did you managed to do it? Especially since you had no need for them," he asks, releasing a sigh as he brings the hot cup of coffee to his face. The steam makes them fog, which prompts him to let out a growl now.

Akira laughs next to him, taking a sip of his own drink. “Don’t know, I just did,” he replies, having no problem at all since he stopped wearing his fake glasses once he was out of high school, not feeling the need to hide from others’ judging eyes anymore. “You’ll get used to it.”

Yusuke just lets out another sigh, taking the glasses off to clean them. Akira observes him, thinking about how good he looks with them. He’s not happy that his boyfriend’s eyesight has decreased, but he can’t deny he looks pretty cute with them; his face looking a bit rounder, and his framed eyes make the silver irises pop up more, his long lashes peeking from beneath the rim of the glasses. It suits him, especially with his neatly braided long hair. 

Akira smiles to himself and keeps watching him, content, being entrained to see him struggle with the hot drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deep in my heart Akira’s glasses will always be real, but for now… let us go with this.  
> Also, today’s the in-game day in which the group meets Yusuke for the first time! I couldn’t prepare anything special because now I’m too busy putting ‘Daily shukita’ together, but still happy first encounter my cute patoots <3 The day where shukita began...


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aged-up characters

“The first day we’ll only have time to get to the hotel and check in… but we should be able to go eat out if we’re not too tired,” Akira says, trying to find the easier public transport route that goes from the airport to their chosen accommodation. 

“Yes, that is the second thing I’m looking forward too. Compared to Japanese food, I think Italian food tends to lean more on the salty and savoury side, which I enjoy greatly. I’m excited to try the authentic flavours of so well spread foods,” Yusuke comments, flipping through the pages of his travel guide. “Mmh.. I can't find the time table for the Uffizi Gallery.”

“Let me search for it….” the other adds typing away on the laptop, “It closes late afternoon. You prefer to go in the morning, yes?”

“Of course, I don’t know how long it will take me to fully appreciate the pieces,” the artist responds, not bothering to look up from the flipping pages.

Akira knows what that means. Their first official day in Florence will be spent inside a building. He hopes they’ll at least have time to squeeze something else in the afternoon, and the rest of the afternoons of their weeklong trip.

“What should we do the following day? Is there anything that interests you, Akira?” Yusuke’s voice snaps him out of his thoughts. He needs to think for a while before replying.

“Mmh… I don’t know, just normal sightseeing walking around the city… oh,” he exclaims, suddenly remembering. ”I want to see the cathedral and some of the others religious buildings… and those gardens we saw on your guide too.”

“Mmhh, let’s carefully work on our schedule so that we can fit it all in. So, on the second day….”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, notice that the rating for the fic changed and there’s now an Underage warning, since this drabble contains explicit content. All other nsfw chapters will be marked at the beginning notes.

After a particularly harsh nip, Yusuke swallows a grunt and buries his face on Akira’s black curls, tangling his fingers on the soft hair in an attempt to keep his composure.

Akira’s always liked to tease Yusuke’s body whenever he gets the chance, one of the few times his Joker persona presents itself in the presence of the artist. From all the little games he likes to play, sucking on Yusuke’s pale nipples until they turn a pretty red is one of his favourites. As soon as they have some time alone and in privacy, Yusuke feels his shirt being pulled up as Akira climbs on top of him, his tongue going to trace Yusuke's skin.

Today is no different, his body being trapped beneath his leader as his nipples are teased with licks and sucks. He knows how much Akira likes to play with them, using them as a means to get Yusuke in the mood.

And Yusuke loves to be showered with attention too.

With one last hard suck, Akira separates from his chest and locks eyes with the artist, gracing him with a lopsided smirk as he slowly presses his hips against his boyfriend's. 

Yusuke represses a sigh of pleasure with semi-closed eyes, his legs tightening around Akira and ready to move on to the next part.


	17. Chapter 17

Akira adjusts the heavy blanket around his shoulders, bringing his knees closer to his chest, as he patiently waits for Yusuke to arrange the platter with his food and carefully place it on the bed.

“Dr. Takemi said it would be best if you took the medicine right before you eat, since it will be absorbed better with digestion,” the artist explains as he places said medicine and a glass of water in the windowsill.

“Ok…” Akira replies with a weak voice, sniffling to stop his runny nose. He’s feeling terrible. “I’ll never go to Crossroads without taking a jacket again… this is the worst time to be sick,” he complains, the amount of request piling up on his phone giving him a momentary headache.

“Don’t worry yourself over that for now, just focus on healing,” Yusuke tells him, going to place the back of his hand against his forehead to feel the temperature.

Akira lets him, feeling relief for a few seconds with Yusuke’s cool touch before his own warmth invades his boyfriend’s skin. He looks at him with semi-closed eyes, and Yusuke graces him with a small smile.

Akira smiles back, though a sigh quickly escapes him. “I can’t even kiss you like this...”

“Mmhh…” Yusuke thinks for some moments, to then sit a bit closer to him. “May this suffice then?”

Carefully, the artist gets closer to his face until the tip of their noses gently press against each other, and he moves his head slightly to make them rub.

“I’ve heard this can be the equivalent of a kiss,” he mutters, the breath escaping from his lips gracing Akira’s very own.

The thief presses his lips together to repress a silly smile from invading them and returns the sweet gesture, his heart swelling.

“Yeah, this is ok for now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s a bit ooc to have them be this disgustingly fluffy, but I like them being covered in sugar.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit more hurt/comfort

“Let’s rest here for a while,” Queen tells the group, though the majority of them are already sitting or resting around the room, exhaustion clear on their faces. Shido’s Palace is more complex that they previously thought.

Fox too leans against one of the walls, happy to finally be able to take a break. Before he can get himself comfortable though, he sees Joker taking a seat on one of the beds. Hands laced in front of his face, elbows resting on his knees, his foot rapidly taps on the floor.

One who doesn’t know him very well would say he just looks nervous, but Fox knows better. The twist of his lips is not normal, and neither is the lost stare of his passionate silver eyes. 

Alarmed, Fox gets off the walls and takes some long strides to him, taking a seat next to the leader. He stays silent, waiting for him to acknowledge his presence. Joker takes a while, but he finally turns to look at him, his eyes losing a bit more life. 

Seeing that, Fox gingerly reaches out for his mask, pushing it up until it rests on the top of his head, and takes one hand to his nape, guiding him down until Joker’s forehead is resting against his shoulder. 

Joker takes a shaky breath and completely buries his face on Fox’s neck, trembling arms going up to grab the back of his clothes with a strong grip. Fox hugs him back, running his gloved hand through his hair with care. The rest leave them alone for a while.

After a while, Joker takes his head up.

“I’m ready, let’s go.”

They both stand up, waiting for the rest to reassemble, and they resume the infiltration.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nsfw-ish.

Yusuke examines the stool, his eyebrows furrowing as he assesses the hardness of the wood. Resigned, he moves the stool aside and adjusts the easel so that it can hold the canvas a little higher than usual. He’ll have to settle with painting standing up.

He spends about 20 minutes to lay down the basic pencil sketch to follow, and decides to take a break before going in with the oils. He grabs his phone to check it, and sees he has a message.

**[New message] Akira to Yusuke**

**Akira (13:06):** How’s the day going?

Yusuke smiles and quickly types a reply.

**Yusuke (13:58):** Rather well, I was just taking a break before starting with the initial layers of my next piece.

**Yusuke: (13:58):** Though having to paint standing up is quite taxing. 

**Akira (13:58):** Standing up?

**Yusuke (13:59):** Yes, sitting down is uncomfortable for me at the moment.

**Akira (14:00):** Oh

**Akira (14:00):** Is it my fault?

**Akira (14:00):** Sorry, didn’t think I was that rough…

**Yusuke (14:01):** It is ok, I’ve learned to deal with it.

**Akira (14:01):** Ok… but remind me next time so we can try to avoid it

**Yusuke (14:01):** Understood. Now then, I will return to my painting. Let’s continue chatting later.

Yusuke sets his phone down and rolls up his sleeves, ready to get to work.


	20. Chapter 20

Another soft grunt comes from the direction of the bed, followed by some shifting.

Akira turns around from his seat on the desk and looks at the direction of his poor mattress, finding Yusuke curled up in a ball, hugging his stomach and his eyebrows furrowed. He smiles sympathetically and stands up, walking next to the artist.

“How are you feeling?” he asks before sitting down and reaching a hand out to take some strands of hair out of Yusuke’s forehead.

“Te…. terrible…” he mutters, his eyes still closed. His body flinches for a moment and he curls further into himself. “O-oohh….”

“I know… I know,” Akira says, gently patting his head. “You’ll just have to wait it out.”

Akira had found a sale going on the convenience store in Central Street that afternoon, and he decided to surprise Yusuke buying two bags full of sweets for his sweet boyfriend, knowing that the other would enjoy the free snacks. What he wasn’t expecting though was that Yusuke would eat all of them in a single sitting. His body hasn’t taken to that well, of course, and that’s why he’s laying in Akira’s bed, having the worst stomach ache he’s ever experienced.

“You can stay the night if it still hurts when it’s time to leave,” he tells him, watching Yusuke relax for a bit before tensing again.

He only gets a grunt as a reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Yusuke you’re such a dummie’, I say as I eat an entire pack of gummies that I know will hurt my stomach.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit more hurt/comfort, with only a sprinkle of shukita this time. Set after the arrest interrogation, there are mentions of injuries and panic attacks.

Repressing a yawn, Sojiro forces his eyelids to stay open as he tries to fit the key into the lock of Leblanc’s door. Muscle memory allows him to open it without much effort, and he strolls inside the establishment as he straightens his back, flipping the lights on. He leaves his jacket and hat on the rag and walks to the kitchen, ready to start preparing all the necessary things to open shop for the day.

As he’s about to go dig through the fridge, from the corner of his eye he sees something out of place. He needs to blink a few times at first, but when he registers what it it, he finally feels fully awake.

The teenager boy that’s staying in his attic is curled up behind the counter, sitting on the floor, his arms strongly wrapped around his knees and his face buried between them. He’s still wearing his pyjamas, his feet bare, and Sojiro can clearly see the wounds and cuts around his wrist and hands, that follow up until they hide beneath the clothes.

“H-hey!” he lets out, completely freaking out as he dashes to his side. “Kid, hey! Are you ok? What happened?” he asks.

There’s not reply.

“Hey, kid,” he tries again as he places a hand on the boy’s shoulder. 

The touch makes the teenager flinch, coiling into himself even further as his entire body begins to shake. Sojiro curses under his breath. Just what in the world did they do to him…? And where is his damned cat?

Forgetting about the shop for now, Sojiro takes a seat next to him, far away enough to leave the boy his space, and takes his phone out.

“It’s ok kid, it’s over. You are home. Help will be here soon,” he says as his phone dials. The call is picked up quickly, and a groggy Futaba can be heard through it. “Yeah, sorry for calling so early. Can you do me a favour? Call the art kid and tell him to come ASAP. Yeah, it’s fine, don’t worry about it, just tell him to come ok?”

He hangs up and starts digging through his contacts. A weak voice coming from his side startles him.

“Yusuke…?” the boy murmurs, his posture never changing.

“Yes, he’ll be here soon. Just wait a little,” Sojiro tells him, finally finding the number for the alley doctor and calling her.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nsfw-ish

With a heavy thud, Joker lets his body fall into the plastic seat of the Memento’s safe room, the tiredness and the soreness of his muscles spreading all over his body. As always, he’s come to accompany Fox in one of his art escapades, but today’s turned out to be longer than usual, and it’s starting to take a toll on his body.

After releasing a long sigh, Joker opens his eyes and turns his head to look at Fox sitting next to him, distracted going through the sketches he did today. The tail of his thief outfit is hanging down the seat, occasionally twitching when Fox passes through a drawing he’s particularly happy with.

Joker can’t help but stare. He’s been wondering about that tail for a while, and now is as good time as any to ask.

“Hey,” he begins, quickly catching Fox’s attention. “The tail that’s attached to your suit, is it just an accessory or do you… feel it?”

“It's just an accessory,” he quickly responds, though the tail does a wide wag.

Joker’s eyebrows furrow. “But it moves.”

“It must be the wind.”

“Yeah… I don’t know.”

Curiosity taking over him, he reaches out and gently grabs the tail, letting the white fur envelope his red gloves. Fox doesn’t react to it whatsoever.

“See?” he says, a smug tone to his voice, as he turns back to the sketchbook.

Joker decides to drop the matter, but now he busies himself playing with the tail, squeezing it lightly before he passes two of his fingers underneath the red ribbon wrapped around it and pulls on it.

Next to him, Fox squirms. He tries to play it off as if nothing happened, but Joker’s sharp eyes catch it perfectly. Tentatively, he pulls on the ribbon once more, and he receives the same reaction.

Joker’s eyes widen and a smirk appears on his face. Inside of him, Akira’s begging him not to do it, but Joker doesn’t care about that right now. Determined, he gives the tail a firm squeeze and he begins to stroke it, teasingly tugging the red ribbon, his eyes glued on Fox. The artist is blushing by the second, his sketchbook totally abandoned as he lightly bites his bottom lip.

“J-joker…” he pleads in a soft voice, the tail wildly moving and waging in his leader’s grasp as he keeps toying with it.

He decides to ignore him. Maybe it’s because fire is one of Fox’s weaknesses and his body is heating up by the constant touches, but the poor boy is reduced to a useless squirmy mess, occasional whimpers escaping him. His body giving up, he ends up resting against Joker’s chest, resigned to let him do as he pleases.

Joker hugs him back, bringing him close to his body, and takes his sweet reward after a tiresome run in Mementos.


	23. Chapter 23

Looking at himself in the mirror, Yusuke gives a final tug on the short skirt of his kunoichi costume and nods, decided and full of determination.

The pushy twins that seem to know them all too well have said it a number of times; that this is all a dream, and that none of them will remember anything when they wake up.

That means he can risk it for once, that this is a golden opportunity for him.

He flips his long ponytail over his shoulder and exist his room, his strides guiding him in front of his leader.

He’ll do it. He will confess to him.

Once he stops in front of the shorter boy, he sees his eyes widening, moving up and down his body as his mouth slightly opens.

“O-oh, Yusuke…” he stutters before taking a small gulp. “Didn’t know you had something like this on your wardrobe.”

“Do you like it?” the artist finds himself saying before he can decide if that’s a good thing to ask or not.

“Y-yeah, you look…” his eyes travel around Yusuke’s body once more. “You look great,” he settles for.

Yusuke feels his face heating up slightly, but he tries to control himself. “I am glad to hear it. Say Akira, would you like to dance the next song with me?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Good,” he nods before reaching out and taking the leader’s hand on his own. “Let us go.”

Yusuke pulls on his arm, guiding him to the dance floor, set on letting him know of his feelings with his dance.

When they reach the centre of the stage, he turns to face Akira, who’s looking at him with his cheeks duster in red. Yusuke takes his other hand and pulls him a bit closer to his body.

“Let’s make it a good one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve just realised the previous drabbles may be filled with tons of typos or weird wording… I’m really sorry about it, but I don’t know if I have the time to fix it right now. I promise the following ones will be better though. Thanks for sticking with it even with the poor writing <3


	24. Chapter 24

With careful steps, Akira climbs back to the attic, trying really hard not to make the stairs creak with his weigh. 

Successfully getting to the top, he continues with his light steps until he reaches the bed. He lifts up a corner of the blanket and slips back inside, feeling the fabric caresses his bare skin. The slight chill he got from his quick trip to the bathroom quickly subsides when he snuggles with the warm body next to him 

Relishing in the sensation and wanting to feel more, he carefully wraps his arms back around Yusuke and pulls him close, tucking the artist’s head on the crook of his neck and hugging him, enjoying the sensation of their skin touching.

He can’t resist the call of sleep when he’s so comfortable cuddling with his boyfriend. As his consciousness starts to fade once more, Akira feels a lanky arm being draped over his side. Letting out a content sigh, he nuzzles Yusuke's head, giving a soft but long kiss to his forehead. He then feels the kiss being reciprocated by receiving one at the base of his neck, so chuckling he gives him another, that gets kissed back as well.

Bodies tangled, they kiss each other back to sleep.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Following yesterday’s drabble

**[New message] Ryuji to Akira**

**Ryuji (11:23):** Hey

**Ryuji (11:28):** There’s a sale on the Shibuya mall today

**Ryuji (11:28):** I wanna get new running shoes, let’s go together?

**Ryuji (11:35):** Come on, I’ll get you ramen after that

**Ryuji (11:43):** Hey

**Ryuji (11:51):** Dude!!

Starting to feel desperate, Ryuji presses the call button next to Akira’s contact and, after letting it sound for a bit, quickly hangs up. This usually works when he wants to get Akira’s attention on the phone, so he hopes it will work this time as well.

His phone vibrates shortly after.

**Akira (11:52):** Hey

Ryuji pumps his fist in victory, watching the screen intently.

**Akira (11:52):** Sorry, I can’t today

His eyebrows furrow. 

**Ryuji (11:52):** Why? Don’t leave me hanging

No other messages come.

**Ryuji (11:56):** Akira don’t be a dick

**Akira (11:56):** *cameraroll54904463.jpg*

Slightly confused, Ryuji opens the picture.

Surrounded by a dim light, he can see Yusuke sound asleep, his head resting on top of Akira’s chest as one arm is wrap around his body. Right next to him, Akira’s resting his chin on top of the artist’s head and looking at the camera with an apologetic look.

As Ryuji’s about to grimace, he realises neither of them are wearing clothes. He lets out and audible grunt instead.

**Ryuji (11:56):** DUDE!!!

**Ryuji (11:57):** Next time just tell me you can’t, ok?

**Ryuji (11:57):** No need for pics

**Akira (11:57):** But I did tell you

**Ryuji (11:58):** Shuddup

**Akira (11:58)** : Aww, you jelly or what?

**Ryuji (11:58):** NO

With a small sigh, he closes the chat and goes to open Ann’s, hoping she’ll be free to come with him.


	26. Chapter 26

“Last stop, I promise! I just want to check out that accessory shop!” Ann says in a fake pleading tone as she lightly pulls on Akira’s arm.

The boy lets out a sigh and readjusts the grip on the five shopping bags he’s carrying on each hand. “Ok, but it’s the last one. We should’ve arrived at Leblanc 15 minutes ago.”

“Yeeey, you are the beeeest!”

With his friend happily humming, Akira follows her inside the store. Ann goes directly to the display full of earrings as he goes to walk around the store to distract himself while she decides on what to buy.

After passing the shelves with the big -and probably too heavy to wear- necklaces, Akira arrives at a small section dedicated to accessories for kids; colourful hair ties, small plastic rings, clip-on earrings and so on. As he’s looking over the hair clips, he finds one that immediately catches his attention.

Glued to a black clip, the figure of a small, red chubby lobster stands out from the collection of unicorn and flower accessories.

Shuffling the bags to his left hand, Akira takes it and brings it close to his face to examine it. Even if Yusuke never mentions it -probably because he’s too focused on his work- the loose strand of hair persistently falling into his eyes when he draw bother him quite a bit. Akira doesn’t know if he’s against wearing stuff like this, but maybe if it has one of his dear lobsters…

“I’m done!” the sudden yelling next to him makes Akira jump. “Ahahaha sorry!! What were you looking at?”

Akira shows her the hair clip. “Do you think Yusuke would like this?”

“Yeah, definitely,” she quickly replies with a serious tone. “Oohh, trying to impress him buying presents?” she begins to tease him, burying an elbow to his side.

“Ouch, it’s not like that,” he complains getting away from her. “I’ll go pay and we can go back.”

“Yeah yeah,” she says with a small giggle.

The train ride back home is also filled with teasing and chuckles, which start to bother Akira slightly. Still, when he sees Yusuke’s wide eyes and bright smile when he gives him the present, Akira knows he made the right decision.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aged-up characters

“Akira! Akira!!”

The loud, panicked voice coming from the living room makes Akira exit the kitchen with a spatula still in hand.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, worried, seeing Yusuke running around the room with hands on his hair. 

“It’s gone!! There’s no more!!” he keeps saying over and over again, going to take his jacket and his keys.

“W-wait, where are you going? It’s almost 11 P.M. already.”

“It’s gone Akira, I need more!!”

“More what?”

“The magenta!! It’s all gone!!”

Akira falls quiet, blinking a few times.

“... Magenta.”

“Yes!! I thought I still had another tube, but I was sorely mistaken… I need to go buy another one before my inspiration leaves!!” he concludes, throwing the door open.

“W-wait, Yusuke! All the stores are closed, calm down ok,” he says, going to grab his arm to prevent him from leaving.

“B-but what am I going to do without the mage-”

“Can’t you swap it with another colour? Or leave the parts blank and paint them tomorrow when you have the tube?” he tries to reason with him and keep him calm, going to close the door.

“But another colour won’t fit...!”

“It’s ok Yusuke, let’s just wait and buy some more tomorrow, ok?” he grabs Yusuke by the arms and rubs them slowly. “Let’s eat dinner first. The paint needs to dry anyway, yes?”

“Y-yes, you are right…”

“Ok, go wash the paint stains away and we’ll eat.”

The artist nods and walks to the bathroom, the crises over for now. Akira sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He’s grateful he’s learned to deal with momentary panics like this over the years.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nsfw.

Arm draped over his eyes and covering his face, Yusuke lets a sweet moan escape as he feels soft hair brush against his inner thighs, his most sensitive part being enveloped by wet warmth.

The steady motion working on him is slowly tearing him apart; his mouth is dry and his body feeling hot all over, aching and asking for more, but not knowing exactly what it wants.

As he thinks he can’t get any more enlightened, he feels that moist warmth abandon his excitement to move down and press against his weak spot, teasing it momentarily before intrude inside his tightest space. At the gesture, his free hand grabs the sheets with force and his legs fall wide open, the capability for speech leaving him.

He feels himself getting stretch by the persistent wet muscle invading him, his slowly opening insides being sucked and licked without stop. His hardness is twitching violently, signalling him that he won’t be able to last for much longer. The clever tongue toying with him seems to know too, digging inside of him as deep as possible until Yusuke’s mind goes blank and he enters momentary bliss.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More hurt/comfort

As he’s comfortably drawing away in the couch on Leblanc’s attic, Yusuke hears the stairs creak. Guessing who it is, he closes his sketchbook and places it next to him, looking at the stairs. A mop of curly black hair appears shortly after.

Yusuke smiles, watching a tired Akira letting his heavy, sleeping Morgana stuffed bag on the table. His face looks quite pale, and the happy jumps of Yusuke’s heart are quickly replaced with beats of worry.

“Akira? Where were you?”

“At Haru’s. She wanted me to be there when she talked to one of the people of her company…” he explains with a sigh, shrugging off his jacket and leaving it next to the bag.

“I don’t understand. How could you possibly help her with something related to her company?”

“Don’t know, I think she just wanted the emotional support,” he replies as he walks to the couch and lets his body fall into it.

Yusuke’s eyebrows furrow. This is not the first time he sees Akira like this. Day after day, he sees him going to meet person after person to help them get over their personal problems, helping them grow as people. That is good of course, it just goes to show how kind of a person Akira is, but… Yusuke can’t help but think that it seems like everybody expects much of Akira, but they don’t care too much for his well-being. As if Akira was there for all of them to vent.

Yusuke stays quiet for a while longer, thinking, while Akira takes out his shoes.

“Everyone… relies on you a lot,” the artist decides to say, eyes glued to the floor.

“Yeah, something like that,” the other replies, as if it was no big deal.

“I did as well…” Yusuke continues, eyes unmoving. “No, I still do. Maybe even more that these other people. I’m putting such a burden on you, even if its involuntary…”

“What?” Akira says, totally caught off guard. His eyes are wide. “Where’s this coming from?”

“The last thing I want is to cause you trouble… yet, it seems I’m still too dependent to do so,” he laments, his eyes closing as his heart grows heavy. 

“Hey,” Akira says, his eyes growing serious. “Don’t say stuff like that, you are nothing like the others. Quite the contrary actually, you help me a lot,” he says, voice going soft as he approaches Yusuke until he can hide his face on the artist’s neck, nuzzling it. “You give me a little break from it all. You’re my reward after a long day,” he adds, his lips softly pressing on the base of Yusuke’s neck, his arms curling around his thin waist.

Yusuke returns the hug back with all his strength. “... Do you truly mean that? I still feel like I’m selfishly relying on you…”

“Just as much as I’m relying on you, I assure you.”

“Mmh…” he murmurs, still unsure. “Is there really nothing I can do for you…?” the artist adds, his voice weakening. 

Akira pulls off his neck and lifts his head up to look at him, mouth curled into a smirk. “Well, I think there  _ is _ something… I think I would feel better after some kisses.”

Yusuke chuckles at seeing his expression and nods, getting close to him until he leaves a small kiss on the corner of Akira’s mouth, just to then fully join their lips in a series of soft pecks, never letting their lips separate too much.

Akira returns all of them happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m watching from up my tower of fluff and sugar as you yell at me about what a fucking sap I am. You can come up if you want, there’s tea and cookies.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nsfw-ish

Yusuke lets out a small gasp when Akira throws him to his bed.

From his standing position, the thief looks down at his boyfriend, the artist’s cheeks lightly flushed and his body waiting for him.

Akira licks his lips and takes a breath before jumping on top of him, placing himself between Yusuke’s legs, making him open them. He quickly goes to grab the hem of the artist’s shirt, starting to pull it up with a swift movement, when a small creak catches his attention.

Another one follows soon after, and then another one.

Akira decides to ignore it, pulling Yusuke’s shirt over his head and going to sink his teeth on his exposed collarbones. Right before he’s able to do that, another creak sounds, accompanied with another few hundreds, and they both fall to the floor, the crates supporting the bed up giving out beneath their weigh, having worn weak with their frequent exercise on top of the plastic boxes.

Both boys look at each other, blinking and totally confused, still not really knowing what just happened.


	31. Chapter 31

Spending another lazy afternoon at Leblanc, Akira stretches in his chair, looking at his handy work satisfied; some lockpicks, a few Goho-M, and other infiltration tools that will surely help them in their next trip to the Metaverse. Morgana’s gone on a stroll, so there’s really no one there to chastise him to go to bed, but he’s probably crash into it pretty soon. Between classes in the morning, helping Takemi with her trials in the afternoon, and now crafting some tools, he feels extremely tired.

' _ Maybe a bath and straight to bed…' _ , he thinks to himself, muffling a yawn.

He gets up and rummages through his things until he finds his bottle of shower gel, a spare change of clothes and a towel. Before going to the bath house, he rests against the desk and checks his phone for any new messages.

A loud sound coming from downstairs startles him. He hears a muffled cry form Sojiro and some quick stomps coming his way, the hustle climbing up the stairs until a frail, excited and tired looking Yusuke appears at the top of them, a big canvas cradled in his arms.

“Akira!!” he exclaims, happily, not even letting him fully process what’s going on. “Look at this, look! I have finally finished!! I had to work on it for two days straight, but I have done it!! Ahahahahaha, they won’t even be able to confront me for missing classes when they see this, my most successful work up to date!!”

Continuing his rambling, Yusuke sets the large, cloth-covered canvas on the floor, making it gently rest against the couch.

“Wow, ok, calm down,” Akira says, letting his things on the floor and walking to him. “What are you talking abo- H-hey, Yusuke!!”

Before Akira can finish his sentence, Yusuke’s form plummets to the ground, unmoving. With a swift movement, Akira manages to step close enough to catch him in his arms.

“Yusuke?” he asks again, worry flooding him.

Taking a closer look at him, he can clearly see the heavy dark-circles underneath his eyes, his cheeks sunken in and his face frailer than usual. Akira lets out a sigh, clutching him closer to his body.

This is nothing unusual for Yusuke. It’s not the first time he wears himself down just for the sake to finish a piece, even if it takes him even longer to recover from it. And it won’t be the last time he does it too, Akira knows that well. Even if it frustrates him that Yusuke cares so little about his own well-being, Akira can’t stay mad at him for long.

He decides to ditch the idea of a bath and pass directly to the sleeping part. As best he can, he carries Yusuke’s light body to the bed, resting him there while he fishes out some comfy clothes for them to wear as pyjamas. Once both are properly dressed, Akira climbs up to the bed and arranges his body on the thin mattress in the right position to then pull Yusuke close to him. He makes Yusuke's head rest on his shoulder, one of his arms draped over Akira’s torso in a lazy hug, as he has one arm wrapped along Yusuke's back, hand resting on his hip, and the other one gently playing with the artist's hair in an attempt to lull him into a restful sleep.

Akira observes his sleeping face, admiring his boyfriend's natural beauty and enjoying the closeness of his warm body. He would prefer to be in this position under better circumstance, but he’s still glad to be able to spend a peaceful time with Yusuke. Between school, phantom thievery and other obligations, they don’t get to do things like these as much as they would like.

If Yusuke’s staying for the night, that also means Akira will get to prepare him breakfast tomorrow morning. He’ll make sure the artist gets to eat, and he’ll also enjoy his happy face when tasting the home-cooked meal.

Akira smiles just thinking about it, starting to get lost in thought deciding on what to prepare when he feels a wet and warm trail falling to his shoulder. He looks in that direction, confused, and quickly finds the source of the unpleasant feeling; probably caused by the extreme exhaustion, Yusuke’s sleeping with his mouth open and drooling all over Akira’s shoulder.

With his tender, domestic fantasies shattered for the moment, Akira grimaces a little bit and reaches out for some tissues on the windowsill, going to clean his shoulder and part of Yusuke’s face as best he can without waking him up.

During the cleaning process, Yusuke has started to mutter in his sleep. That is a recurrent habit of his and by now Akira’s more than used to it, so he doesn’t pay it any mind. This time, his conversations are filled with a discussion about the right paper thickness for watercolours, confusing requests for curry and, hidden amongst the incomprehensible babbling, a plea for a kiss.

Akira chuckles to himself hearing all this, taking note of some of the things to properly fulfil them when they wake up. One of them though, he can do right now.

Carefully leaning in, he approaches Yusuke’s face until his lips are in range and he kisses them tenderly, letting their lips joined for a few seconds before pulling away.

He looks at his sleeping form for a few moments, moving to embrace him more tightly and admiring his cute boyfriend’s rest. He could stay like that all night, but sleep soon takes him as well and he passes out hugging Yusuke close to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it’s done! 31 days! I’ll go ahead and give myself some pats on the back as a reward.
> 
> Thank you all for reading, even if it was only for a chapter or for all of them. There are still lots of stories about Yusuke and Akira that I want to create, so I hope you give those ones a chance too.
> 
> Thanks again for reading, and I hope this next month will be kinder to us all <3
> 
> [ twitter ](http://twitter.com/nature_check)


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